


Orange Tabby

by YOHLIX



Series: Hybrid SKZ [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Cat Hybrid Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Cat/Human Hybrids, Changbin as the tired PhD student, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Hybrids, M/M, My vision for Jisung is just Jack from Beastars, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, This part may not remain soft..., no ABO
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24052087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YOHLIX/pseuds/YOHLIX
Summary: changbin finds a boy with cat ears and a tail !!
Relationships: Lee Felix & Seo Changbin, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Series: Hybrid SKZ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735156
Comments: 13
Kudos: 66





	Orange Tabby

**Author's Note:**

> two posts in one night. who am i?

Changbin stumbles out of the club and into midnight winter air, hands on his knees as he stares at his distorted reflection in a puddle of mystery liquid on the asphalt. He catches his breath, shakes his head, and wills the dizzying inebriation to dissipate. The fresh air helps, but he still wobbles as he stands up straight and brushes off the front of his denim jacket. It's really not enough to keep him warm, but he doesn't notice the biting cold in this state as he makes his way down the alley. He'll feel it later, when he gets home – sober, to some degree, by then – and scalding shower water hits his frozen numb skin.

He pats around for his wallet in a half-assed manner, recalling having taken the whole thing out and tucking it under the red bikini strap of the woman in his lap.

He facepalms and considers turning back, but he finds his ID and bank card in his pocket, so he decides against it. At most, he probably just lost 50 bucks. He _thinks_ that's how much cash he had, but he can't recall exactly. It's not worth returning and she probably needs it more than he does, anyways.

A sigh leaves his chapped lips in a curl of icy air as he stuffs his hands in the hoodie pocket under his jacket, kicking pebbles as he goes. He should probably be working on his dissertation, right now. Y'know, just the little thesis that culminates the entirety of the work he's putting into his PhD. It's been 3 months and he's more or less got 10 rough pages down so far, which means there's probably about... 140 left...

The thought of typing one more word onto that daunting document makes him groan. He finds an innocent soda can on the ground to launch into the graffitied brick wall.

The angry sound of scraping metal echoes around him as the can bounces along, but as it dies down, his ears pick up another noise.

It sounds like crying.

He slows as he passes by a turn in the alleyway, crouching down as he peeks around the corner. He catches sight of a huddled figure against a rusting dumpster, hugging themself tight atop a flimsy pile of cardboard. They seem to be cowering from him before he even shows himself, obviously aware of his presence in advance. And probably not just from the sound of the soda can – if the orange tabby ears atop their head are anything to go by, they probably heard him as soon as he stepped foot outside the building.

They avoid eye contact with him as he comes closer, chest rattling as they sob and sniffle.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Changbin reaches out, coming within a foot of them before their head snaps up, teeth bared. He falls back on his ass and grimaces as moisture immediately seeps through his jeans. Now he notices, as they look up at him with flattened ears and a pointed scowl, that it's a boy maybe around his age. Seemingly younger. He's small, and under the dirt on his skin, Changbin can tell there's a certain shine of youth on his face. Even as he growls at him, voice startling deep, rumbling low in his chest. Changbin composes himself and pushes up from the ground, resuming a crouching position. He watches carefully as the boy's fluffy tail bristles behind him. "What's your name?"

The boy seems to be all bark and no bite so far, for lack of a better term. He holds himself tighter as Changbin inches closer. Then the hybrid’s nose wrinkles up in distaste, lifting his chin incredulously. "You reek of alcohol."

"Hey," Changbin whines, "I'm not _that_ drunk." He laughs to himself, watching the boy's narrow eyes search his face. "I guess your sense of smell is hypersensitive, though. I'm sorry." There's a glint of something from around the boy's neck and that's when Changbin notices the collar there. _Felix_ is printed on the silver tag. Changbin points to the leather above the redhead's shirt collar. "Felix? Is that your name?" Felix just stares at him, striped ears turned back as far as they'll go. "Did you run away?" Hybrids don't just get lost, after all. Not at this age, anyways. If Felix is out here, it's on purpose. He doesn't answer, so Changbin tries again. "Maybe you got kicked out?"

That seems to strike a nerve. Felix takes in a shuddery breath and angrily wipes at a tear that escapes the corner of his eye. "None of your business. Leave me alone."

"I'm on my way home. I could get you something to eat? Maybe a shower? I'm sure you'd like to sleep inside." Changbin smiles and he notices Felix's tail swipe once as his curiosity heightens, relaxing just a bit. "That sounds nice, hm? I've got a perfectly good pullout sofa."

Felix hums, leans forward to sniff Changbin's outstretched hand. Besides the outlying scent of strip club on his skin, Felix senses his gentleness. His tail relaxes, tapping against the ground. "Okay..." He scratches the back of one of the ears atop his head. "One night, I guess."

"Great!" Changbin tries not to sound too excited for fear of scaring Felix off. He stands slowly at the same time Felix does, as not to intimidate him. Felix ends up being the taller one, anyways. His shoulders are hunched up, shaking slightly. Changbin knows once he feeds him, Felix will trust him considerably more. "Oh, I'm Seo Changbin, by the way."

Felix nods in acknowledgement. "Lead the way."

"You're not cold, right?" Changbin asks. Walking just slightly in front of Felix, he turns his head to the side to speak to him. "This weather is probably pretty tolerable to you."

The hybrid hums, rubbing at his arm self consciously. "Yeah, I'm comfortable. A t-shirt's enough."

Changbin wants to ask more questions, but he decides not to pry as Felix continues to sniffle and rub at his puffy eyes. It's a short walk back to Changbin's place; by now, the experience of this whole situation has sobered him up. For perhaps some obvious reasons, Felix wasn't expecting the quaint townhouse on the end of a street that screams suburban curb appeal, but the dusty yellow color of the siding makes him happy.

He follows Changbin inside, squinting through the harshness of lights suddenly being turned on. There's a mess of blankets, half-eaten popcorn bowls, and game controllers strewn about the floor. Changbin is about to apologize for the state of his living room when Felix practically retches, akin to the sound he'd make if he was coughing up a furball.

"Ick! It smells like _dog_ in here!" He covers his mouth with a hand, mumbling against his palm. "If you have a dog and brought me into its home without telling me–"

Changbin laughs unevenly and rubs at the back of his neck. "No, no, that would be my buddy Jisung. He came over today."

Felix frowns at the golden fur sprinkling every square inch of his immediate surroundings and then sneezes violently. He sniffles, glaring at Changbin as he catches him giggling. "Where's your shower?"

"This way." Changbin gestures for Felix to follow him upstairs, and Felix steps through the living room as if it's a hazmat-poisoned ground zero. He sneezes the whole way up to the bathroom, until there's a folded towel being handed to him. "You can get in. I'll go find a clean change of clothes for you."

"Changbin?" Felix calls out meekly just as his host starts to leave. "Could you give me a hand?" He rolls his neck. "I'd like to get this thing off of me and thrown away. In a fire, preferably."

Changbin nods earnestly and Felix doesn't like the pitiful look on his face. He reaches up slowly, finding the buckle on the collar and unclasping it. Felix flinches when the older boy's fingers brush against his neck. "Sorry," he whispers quickly, tugging the leather strap from the metal and smiling as the thing loosens around Felix's neck. "There!" He pulls it off, letting it hang on his finger from the ring where the ID tag jingles. He smiles sadly at the faint pink mark ringing around Felix's neck. "You're no one's property."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that." Felix's pointy ear flicks and he rolls his eyes. "Don't get all sappy with me."

Changbin takes that as his cue to leave, slinking out of the bathroom with the dehumanizing accessory in-hand.

It's been three days since Felix has taken a shower, but it feels like infinitely longer as he turns on the squeaky faucet to step under the hot water. He cringes at the dirt pooling at his feet, swirling towards the drain. After standing under the water until he's thoroughly rinsed off, he turns to the basket of things hanging from the shower head. He's first drawn to a black bottle of body wash with intense blue writing on the label. He flips open the cap and brings it to his nose, automatically turning it over to tap the icy-smelling soap into his palm. It's recognizable as the faint scent on Changbin's clothes and in the house.

Felix feels like the bottle is considerably lighter once he's done lathering its contents across the expanse of his skin, but he thinks it's pretty understandable. His furry ears prick up when he hears the sound of a vacuum turning on. Destroying all evidence of that doofy hairy animal, he hopes. The thoughtfulness behind Changbin's cleaning up subconsciously brings a smile to Felix's lips as he replaces the body wash with a shampoo bottle.

This one smells sweet, like berries or flowers. Cherry blossom, according the illustrations of pink and white pedals on the front. He starts with the hair on his head and his cattish ears, then he lets the suds sit atop his head as he washes his tail. Changbin oughta own an extra hairbrush. Felix's long fur is looking destitute. He does his best to finger-comb through the mats in his tail for now, sighing sadly as he rinses it out.

Then he rinses off his head, standing under the water for a few extra minutes before turning it off.

Once he's out and wrapped in a towel, he's not really sure where to go, so he just cracks the door. "Ch-Changbin?"

"Right here," Changbin says, right outside the threshold of the door. And it's not very often that Felix gets snuck up on, but sometimes he slips up when he starts feeling too comfortable in new places. For a split second, he reverts to his instincts. Having no room for flight, he resorts to fight, eyes honing in on Changbin's hand where it grips the doorway and cages Felix in. He yowls, and before Changbin can react, he's sinking his teeth into Changbin's forearm. "Ow! Ow! Felix, stop! Fuck! Ouch!" He repeatedly hits Felix's head with the bundle of clothes in his hand as he half-laughs and half-cries.

It doesn't last very long, but Felix's teeth are sharp and he clamped down over the muscular limb as hard as he could. His jaw hangs slack, eyes blank for a few seconds. Then he snaps out of it, shaking his head and spraying water drops around. "Oh, oh, that's so embarrassing. I'm so sorry–"

"No, no, it's okay!" Changbin is laughing. "It was bad timing. I was just about to knock."

"You're bleeding!" Felix feels his lip tremble as he notices the arch of pinpricks on Changbin's arm, starting to bead with crimson. "I'm sorry, I'll leave..."

Changbin laughs even harder and shoves the clothes into Felix's bare chest. "It's fine, Fe!" His ears twitch atop his head at the sound of the new nickname. "Just get changed! I'm finishing up dinner." _Is dinner past midnight really dinner_...? Felix can smell chicken and his stomach growls. "I hope reheated fried chicken is okay. I just threw my lunch leftovers in the microwave."

"It's more than okay," Felix reassures, mouth watering. He's shooed back into the bathroom to change.

He's probably too excited when he notices the light purple tone of the hoodie he was given. Pastels don't seem like they'd be Changbin's thing, but Felix loves bright colors. He slips it over his head after dropping the towel and tries not to think too much of stepping into the pair of boxers. After rolling the elastic of the underwear over a couple times, he pulls on black sweats with white stripes on the sides. They're a bit too short, but he realizes with pleasant surprise that there's a hole in the waistband for his tail. He wonders if they belong to the dog – _Jisung, is it_? If so, they certainly don't smell anything like him, so Felix is thankful. And the hoodie is so comfortable he could fall asleep right now. Changbin gave him a pair of mismatching socks; the longer one has black and white stripes, while the shorter one is pink and patterned with red hearts.

Felix looks at his reflection, relieved to see that even after the stressful dirty days he's spent on the street, his skin is still relatively clear. He ruffles a hand through his orange hair and starts the search for a hairdryer.

Changbin hears the handheld machine turn on from his spot on the couch, but he still chokes on an ice cube when Felix appears in the living room. The older boy did not expect Felix's hair to be _this_ fluffy, to the point where his eyes are barely visible and only the very tips of his tabby ears are peeking out. And, furthermore, Felix has gone to the extent of drying his tail, too. He holds the uncontrollably puffed thing across his waist, stroking it as if it's a cat, itself. Changbin just now notices the tip of it is white.

Felix waits for the ice in Changbin's throat to melt, so he can catch his breath, before asking, "Do you have an extra brush I could borrow? One you don't usually use?"

"Uh, no, I just have one. But you can take it." Changbin stands, ready to lead the way to his hairbrush.

Felix pads after him, holding his tail tight to his chest. "Oh, no, you don't want cat fur in your hair..."

"Yeah, you can take it." Changbin shrugs, leading Felix down a new hallway, to a bedroom. "I'll just buy another one in the morning."

He takes his brush from the vanity and hands it over to Felix with a bow, as if transferring something sacred over to him.

Felix plucks it from his open palms, biting back a giggle. "Well, thank you."

"Okay, you have to go eat, now." Changbin stands up straight and settles a cautious hand on Felix's shoulder blade, guiding him back to the living room. Luckily he doesn't get bitten on the way.

Felix insists on sitting on the floor, because he really doesn't want to get hair all over Changbin's furniture. So he sits with his back against the couch and his plate next to him, alternating between taking bites and brushing the tail in his lap.

Changbin browses through channels on the tv until Felix tells him to stop on some classic monochrome scary movie he likes. He ends up very focused on it. He's finished brushing his hair and fur, and his dinner is gone in record time.

Now he’s sitting with his legs hugged to his chest and his tail around his feet, chin resting on his knees. Changbin is fascinated with how his ears move in reaction to what he's feeling. They stand up straight, alert, when he's focusing on an important part of the plot. When it gets suspenseful, they flatten out over his head in fear – or they stay up, flicking as he follows every move on screen. And sometimes, when there's nothing particularly crucial happening, they droop to the side.

There are tufts of fur puffing out all over them, his left one resembling pulled cotton. It's white like the tip of his tail. The right ear is striped and orange, like the rest of his tail. Changbin figures the orange color of his human hair is natural.

In a lapse of judgement and a fix of intrigue, Changbin reaches out to pat the top of Felix's head.

Felix tenses under his touch, ears perking up from where they were starting to relax. Changbin can only see the side of his face, expression twisting as the white light from the movie casts shadows over it. His nose twitches, followed by the end of his tail. Changbin can see how small his pupils are, just thin slits in the middle of chocolate brown eyes. And Changbin knows that could mean a range of things from anger to pleasure, so he's hoping Felix is settling somewhere closer to the latter end of that spectrum. His eyelids themselves are still wide open, and Changbin thinks that's a good sign...

Then Felix closes his eyes slowly, opening them in a drawn out blink. And now his pupils are blown so wide that his eyes look black, eyelids drooping over them as he smiles. Okay, definitely a good sign.

"Err, is this alright?" Changbin asks, gently massaging his fingers into Felix's scalp. If Changbin ever tries to pet Jisung, he gets an earful; then usually some sort of uncoordinated punch or kick follows. Felix answers by craning his head up into Changbin's palm, squishing his ears under his fingers in an attempt to get him to scratch them. Changbin obliges, rubbing his fingertips behind them. Felix has turned into the couch, the movie completely forgotten as his fingers curl into the cushion to knead it. "Do you wanna come up?"

Changbin is stretched out over the couch and he doesn't have time to scoot over before Felix is pulling himself up. Whatever switch has suddenly flipped in the hybrid’s brain is definitely not something Changbin's canine friend comes with. Felix lays flat atop Changbin, chest rumbling with purrs and reverberating against the older boy's sternum.

Then Felix's legs curl up as he grips onto Changbin' shirt, rubbing his cheek against it. Changbin's petting at the base of his head now, scratching his hair. The longer he looks at Felix, the more little details he picks out. He's noticing the smattering of freckles over the bridge of Felix's nose, his forehead, his cheeks, and how they look against the pink flush of his face.

Not that Changbin didn't take note of it before, because it's all he's been thinking, but Felix is _really_ pretty. He keeps getting hit with this revelation in waves.

"Changbin," Felix speaks into his chest, "Is it alright if I sleep?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, of course." Changbin moves to get up, but stops as soon as he feels Felix's tail tap against his leg. He thinks the general rule of thumb is: wagging for dogs equals good and wagging for cats equals bad — so he garners that him moving is something that Felix does _not_ want.

He yawns, holding tighter onto Changbin and pulling himself into a smaller ball. "No, like, right now. I'm falling... fall... mm, g'night."

"Felix?" Changbin whispers, blinking down at the top of the boy’s head. His chest is already steadily rising and falling, letting out little grumbles with every couple of breaths. "I guess you had a long day."

Changbin settles a tentative hand on Felix's back, feeling the day catch up to him, too. He wants to say he's ended up in weirder situations with strangers by the end of some nights, but... no, this is definitely the oddest.

He wills himself to go to sleep, wishing he could lull off as easily as a cat.

When he finally does fall asleep for a few hours, it feels like only a split second before his eyes are flying open. Felix is sprawled out on top of him, thrashing around gently and crying in a similar way to when Changbin found him. He's still asleep, eyes tightly screwed shut.

"Felix!" Changbin whisper-yells, shaking the boy's shoulder and quickly snapping him out of whatever bad dream he's having. He sits up so quickly it makes Changbin gasp. His chest is heaving, ears pressed completely flat against his head, eyes wide with fear as they dart around the room. "Felix!" Changbin snaps.

Felix turns to him with those wide fearful eyes, unblinking as he holds his breath. They stare at each other for a few moments, then Felix takes in a _big_ inhale, letting it out in a lilting little coo as his gaze softens. He shakes his head, brushing the aftermath of his nightmare off as Changbin materializes under him. If he didn't know better, Changbin'd say Felix just beeped at him. He doesn't really know what else to call the tiny joyful noise as Felix shakes his whole body this time and lets it out again. Changbin giggles softly at how his tail vibrates.

He seems relieved. "Sorry," he squeaks out, backing up against the other end of the couch and smiling shamefully.

"No need to apologize. Are you okay?" Changbin sits up and rubs at his eyes. The tv has long shut off on its own; in the dark, Changbin's already poorer than average vision takes a while to adjust. He sees Felix's silhouette move, stretching his arms above his head and yawning.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'll probably be up for a while. It's alright."

Changbin smiles to himself, blinking as Felix starts to come into focus. "I have a remedy for sleeplessness. It works even after scary dreams."

"This isn't the part where you poison me, is it?" Felix watches Changbin move into the kitchen, flicking on a small light. His back is facing the living room as he opens the fridge door and Felix doesn't recall ever being able to see someone's muscles through their shirt like that. He gulps and stares down at his socked toes, hiding his blush as if Changbin could see it from where he is.

After a few minutes of staring at his feet, Felix catches a whiff of honey and something else that he can't quite pin.

Changbin shuffles in with two steaming mugs of the enticing-smelling concoction. He literally bites back a grin as Felix perks up on his knees, nose sniffing the air. Changbin's teeth let go of his bottom lip as he chuckles. "Warm milk and honey."

"I've never tried milk." Felix's eyes are blown black again, shining even in the dark somehow. He reaches out a small hand, fingers extending from the sleeve of Changbin's hoodie to grip one of the mug's handles.

"Careful." Changbin winces, watching Felix naively take a big gulp of the hot drink. It doesn't seem to bother him too much. Changbin dips a pinky in his own drink to test the temperature, finding that it's actually perfectly warm. "Wait, you've never drank milk? You're not intolerant, are you?"

Felix shrugs as he tips the mug up, only his crossed eyes visible as he takes more big gulps of the drink. He pulls it away from his face as Changbin sits next to him. "I dunno. I just know I was never allowed."

"Maybe you should take it easier. Either way, chugging it like that will make your stomach hurt." Changbin takes a sip of his own drink and watches Felix wipe the white ring from around his lips with the hoodie's sleeve. "It's good, though, right?" _Cats are supposed to like milk, yeah? Especially warm_...

"Mm! 'M already sleepy again! Can I have this for b–" _Yawn_. "B-breakfast, too?" Felix mutters something about how he doesn't like coffee as he sets his mug down on the side table.

"Um." Changbin blinks down at his lap as there's suddenly a curled up Felix attached to his waist. "Sure." He lifts his drink up out of the way, watching in soft awe as Felix starts to snore. And as Changbin reaches for the remote to turn the tv back on, he can't shake the sneaking suspicion that Felix is going to stay attached to him for a little while past tomorrow morning.

**Author's Note:**

> this is some of my favorite writing, if i do say so myself.


End file.
